If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

My Orchid Terrarium

Hi. This is my orchid terrarium. Its been in the works now for about six months. I will make comments as I go, but fire away with questions.

This is the cabinet, a snake case I was lucky to get for $80 on ebay.

I started by painting the interior with 4 coats of pond liner paint to waterproof it.

I then began arranging cork and pots. As the wood was thick, I was able to nail the cork back to the wall to keep it in place.

Next came adding the expanding foam. I got a little heavy handed and added a lot at once, only to find it expanded a lot more than I thought it would. I should have added a little at a time, letting it set before adding more. Once it was set, I was able to cut the foam to shape.

I used a beige silicone to cover the foam, cut into rock-like shapes. I then mushed a mix of 50% coarse pink sand, and 50% peat into it to give the illusion of rocks. I also drilled 2 x 2 inch wide holes in the bottom and siliconed plastic tubing into them for drains running to a bucket. Sorry, no pics.. I will take some.

Lighting came with 6 x 12 volt high output caravan LEDs at 6500K. I ran 4 along the top and two down the front near the door. Air movement is from 1 x 12v waterproof, high flow computer fan on updraft.

The media on the base is coarse hard orchid bark, over which the mosses have been layed. I have found it drains well enough in most places, except the very front. I have chosen plants that can take a lot of moisture for this area.

I treated all my collected moss with a medium pink mixture of Condys Crystals, dipping them for 1 minute and then letting them drain before placing the moss onto the bark, fake rocks or bark base.

The plants have been slowly added. Here are some pics as I added plants.

Very nice! Thanks.. I am happy with its progress.
How big is the terr? The case it self is 100cm tall, and about 70cm x 70cm (take that loosely as it is hexagonal. The cabinet it sits on is 75cm tall.

What are "Condys Crystals" and what function do they serve? = Potassium permanganate, a treatment for tinea you can buy at the chemist. It kills snails, their eggs, and other insects that may inhabit moss. You add a tiny amount to a bucket of water to get a mid pink coloured solution and dip the moss in in for 30 seconds or so. Wear gloves or you will have pink to brown hands.

Is the hub where all you lights come together a one piece 4 socket unit? Have never seen such, if that is the case. I wired the lights myself to a 12v power source that was able to handle the Amps needed by all the lights. I bought it an an electronics supply store where they were able to look at my lights and say how many Amps the power source needed to give out to run them. I like 12v as it is safe in humid environments like this. Its not going to burn down the house if a light fails one day.

Is the fan in the ceiling of the terr.? The fan is mounted 1.5 inches away from the ceiling blowing up, so it sucks the air up from the bottom of the case and circulates it around the case. I will try to take a video of it later. It does not exit the case. The case is largely sealed apart from a few small wholes and I was not able to perfectly fit the door, so some air gets in that way, or when I open it to water daily..

Does your pump recirculate the water? There is no pump. Unless you mean the humidifier, in which case no. It has a reservior that I must fill daily.